Rotatable conveying truck



Feb. 26 1924?.

V. E. ADLAND ROTATABLE CONVEYING TRUCK Filed May 12 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet1 ,lmxLEg E Vic Ta 5. 40.4 17M.

Feb. 26 1924. 1,484,615

- v. E. ADLAND ROTATABLE CONVEYING TRUCK Filed May 12. 1921 2Sheets-Sheet 2 V c 519,1? 5. Kazan/0.

Patented Feb. 26, 1924.

STATS VICTOR E. ADLAND, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

aora'rnrnnoonvnyino TRUCK.

Application filed May 12,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VICTOR E. ADLAND, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and Stateof Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in aRotatable Conveying Truck; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, and to the numerals of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in trucks and has especialreference to a form of rotatable truck adapted particularly for use inlaundries or the like where separate assembled batches of clothes orother material are to be transferred a number of times from one treatingapparatus to another.

' An object of this invention is the provision of a truck adapted totransfer batches or lots of clothes without any liability of getting thebatches mixed with each other and to always keep them in the sameconsecutiv order or relation to each other.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a transfer meansfor batches of clothes or the like wherein an identification meansoriginally attached to each batch of clothes is carried along with eachbatch in the conveyor.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a rotaryconveyor truck which is adapted to have at all times one freecompartment available so that when transferring lots of material fromone part of a laundry apparatus to another, in the course of a cycle ofoperations, provision is made for the transfer of the first set of asucceeding series into the conveyor without necessitating the priorremoval of the last set of the preceding series of clothes.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a conveyorfor clothes or the like provided with means to permit of the readyinsertion of the clothes into a bag or other receptacle after theoperations on same have been completed and prior to the insertion into,the conveyor of the first of a batch of new clothes.

Another important object of the invention is the provision of a conveyortruck for clothes or the like" which is provided with a receiving shelfmade of such material and so designed that said shelf will not interfere1921. Serial No. 468,852.

with the ready removal of clothes from the truck and their insertioninto the same.

Still another important object of the invention is the provision of arevolving circular truck having a series of compartments therein, thecompartments being adapted to be closed with a set of sliding doors, oneless in number than the number of com partments so that one compartmentis always open, and automatic means to stop and hold the opencompartment in proper position.

Otherand further important objects of the invention will be apparentfrom the disclosures in the accompanying drawings and the followingspecification.

The invention (in a preferred form) is illustrated in the drawings andhereinafter more fully described.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved rotating conveying truckand shows it in position alongside a drying apparatus such as iscommonly used in a laundry in connection with this process.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the rotating conveyor truck. 51

Figure 1 is a front end view of the same.

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure3.

Figure 6 is a detail sectional view on the line 66 of Figure 3 showingthe means for holding an open'receiving bag on the shelf of theconveyor.

Figure 7 is an enlarged section taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 2.

Figure 8 is a sectional view of the automatic stop means for the rotarycontainer.

As shown on the drawings:

The reference numeral 10 indicates the rotatable receiving compartmentof the truck, the same being mounted upon an axle 12 positioned in aframe 14, this frame being provided with rollers 16 so as to permit ofits ready shifting from one apparatus to another located at a distancetherefrom. One member of the frame 1 1 extends forwardly beyond the mainportion of the apparatus and mounted thereon is a triangular shelf 18composed of sheet metal or some other rigid material, this beingsupported in position on the frame 14 by bolts or rivets. The shelf 18is adapted to support a receiving bag 24 in which the clean driedclothes are placed after the last step in the process has beencompleted. Two downwardly ex tending projections or lugs 20 are providedon the frame immediately above the shelf 18 and are adapted to engagethe mouth of the bag 2% so that the same may be easily maintained by theoperator in open position and with the use of only one hand, leaving theother hand free to pack the clothes in the bag. Rubber tips 22 areprovided on the projections 20.

The rotating container 10 is divided into compartments by radialpartitions 28 which are riveted to the sides of the container. In theform of the invention shown the number of these partitions is seven,thereby making seven compartments, but it isevident that this number maybe varied if desired. A slidable cover 30 is provided for each of thecompartments but one, one being left open as best shown in Figure 2.These covers 30 are made in the form of segments of a circle and fit ingrooves in the inner edges of the periphery of the container, thesegrooves being formed by an outer angle plate 32 and an inner annularring 3st as best shown in Figure 7. The covers 30 are adapted to so fitin these grooves as to have a slight frictional contact therewith andthereby be held in position. The forward edge of each cover 80 isprovided with a turned up bead 36extending across the same and which isadapted to act as a handle in its manipulation.

The automatic stop or brake member 38 is adapted to act upon therotating member 10 by having a pin drop into holes 40, one for eachcompartment and drilled into the circular edge, adjacent the partitions28. A spring 42 is provided to normally impel the pin into a hole 40whenever one comes into alignment therewith during the rotation of thetank 10. A handle or knob H is provided adapted for the release of thepin whenever it is desired to gain access to the next compartment.

A flap 46 of rubber or similar flexible material is attached to theupper lateral edge of the shelf or tray 18 by any suitable means and isadapted to contact with any adjoining apparatus, as the drier 11, so asto pre vent loss of small articles which would ordinarily occur onaccount of their dropping into the space between.

On the outer side of the circular container 10 is provided a series ofclips 60, one on each compartment, adapted to retain in position tags 62which identify the contents of each compartment. A series of similarclips 64 are fixed upon the drier or other apparatus 11, one over eachcompartment 13, and these are also adapted to hold in position similaridentification cards or tags.

The operation is as follows: a

In the particular system of laundry work for which this rotatable truckwas particularly designed, the work i brought into the laundry in a bagand is sent therethrough in one batch, the batch retaining its identitythroughout its passage through the laundry and the particular articlesmaking up the batch never being separated during the process of washing,drying or ironing, except in so far as may be necessary to separate suchmaterials as silks and woolens from colored or flat work as is generallyknown. This system involves the handling of bundles. individually, withthe costly methods of identification eliminated. The bundle is properlyclassified and washed, the fiat work ironed;

and the wearing apparel, handkerchiefs, and

bath towels dried in such a manner that'the housewife merely folds allof the soft pieces (which is the greater portion of the dried clothes)thereby rendering them ready for use without ironing, leaving only a fewpieces to be starched and ironed. Each customers particular batch oflaundry goes through thewashing process without being mixed in anymanner with any other customers laundry. 7

The production of this service is divided into six departments oroperations, each separate and distinct in itself, and appearing in theirrelative order or routine, as the bundle proceeds from the time itreaches the plant until its completion, namely:

1. Classifying for washing.

2. Washing and extracting.

3. Assembling.

4L. Separating.

5. Flat work ironing and wrapping.

6. Wearing apparel drying and bagging.

In the illustration of the invention shown in Figure 1 the rotaryconveying truck 10 is shown as disposed adjacent to an extracting ordrying apparatus 11 and the series of steps necessary in the process ofremoving the dried clothes from the drier and at the same time insertingan additional batch of wet clothes therein is shown in operation. Here,the first compartment 13 has been opened and the dried clothes removedtherefrom and have been placed into the compartment 66 which has justbeen turned down to a lower level than the shelf 18 after having beenclosed with a cover 30. This leaves the compartment 68 open and the wetclothes therein are transferred directly to the open compartment 13 ofthe drier. and the tag 62 is taken off and placed beneath the clip 64:over the compartment 13 so as to properly identify the work therein. Thenext compartment in the drier is then opened and the conveyer turned tobring the compartment 7 0 into position when it is opened, the covermember 30 thereupon being slid down to close the compartment 68- The wetclothes having been removed from the compartment 7 0 and inserted intocompartment next adjacent the end one 13, the operation is thencontinued as described until the entire transfer of all the batches oflaundry has been accomplished.

It is evident that this rotatable conveying truck or a similar truck mayalso be used to convey the dirty clothes to the washing machine and thenthe same set of clothes from the washing machine to the extractor ordrier and from thence to the ironing machine, acting at all times in adouble capacity, carrying at least six of its compartments alwaysfilled, and the seventh compartment available for purposes ofinaugurating a change. After the clothes have been completely washed anddried, and if they 7 are not to be ironed, they are finally taken out ofthe rotatable conveyor 10 and packed into the bag 24 for which purposethe bag is laid on the shelf 22 and is held in an open position bycatching the edges of its mouth under the two downwardly projecting lugs20 when one hand of the operator will suffice to hold the bag open forthe ready insertion of clothes into the bag with the other hand. 7

In using the truck in conjunction with a drier, the process is asfollows: After each dry bundle is removed from the truck pocket into abag the operator places in the same truck pocket a new wet bundle,attaching to the outside of the container by the respective clip theproper identification tag so that after this operation has beencompleted for six bundles the revolvable truck is again" loaded with sixwet bundles ready to be transferred to and placed into the dryingtumbler as the next dry bundles are removed therefrom.

This revolving conveying truck constitutes a great convenience, as byits use the driers or washing machines may be unloaded and reloaded inthe least possible time, thereby increasing production. This truck alsoaffords a working level for the operator, eliminating the stooping andlifting of a vast tonnage.

In the unloading and loading process of a dryer or washing machine withthis device only one bundle can be exposed at a time, eliminatingentirely any danger of mixing.

It will of course be understood that this truck is equally suited for alarge variety of uses, such as for instance gathering in' dividualorders in stores.

I am aware that many changes may be made and numerous details varied inthe construction and operation without departing from the principles ofthis invention, and I therefore do not purpose limiting the patentgranted thereon otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. A conveyor truck including a rotatable container provided with aseries of compartments, all but one of said compartments being providedwith covers peripherally slidable to expose one compartment at a time.

2. A conveyor truck including a rotatable container provided with aseries of compartments, all but one of said compartments being providedwith a cover at a given time, said covers being slidably mounted inperipheral grooves in the container to successively expose onecompartment at a time.

8. In a movable truck, a rotatable containing means mounted thereon,said containing means being provided with a plurality of compartments, aseries of peripheral slidable doors for the compartments, and anautomatic stop for controlling the rotation of the containing means.

4.. In a rotatable conveying truck for laundry articles or the like, thecombination of a shelf for convenient loading and unloading of thetruck, said shelf being provided with a flexible retaining guard meansadapted to contact with another laundry apparatus to prevent loss ofarticles by dropping into the space therebetween.

5. In a rotatable conveying truck for laundry articles or the like, thecombination of a shelf for convenient loading and unloading of thetruck, said'shelf being of a triangular form and having provided thereonmeans adapted for the convenient positioning of the mouth of a laundrybag for the reception of articles.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

VICTOR E. ADLAND.

Witnesses:

Josnrn: T. KIEPURA, RAYMOND M. Swnrrznn.

